Cricket Australia Look to Counter Rebel League With Possible Long-Term Player Contracts
Reports are rife that stars like David Warner and Michael Clarke will be offered contracts of up to USD 50 million to turn up for an Essel Group-owned rebel league.
Amid growing fears of the emergence of a rebel league to the International Cricket Council and their attempts to sign up marquee players from all over the world, Cricket Australia is planning to tie down players to long-term contracts.
Reports are rife that stars like David Warner and Michael Clarke will be offered lucrative contracts of up to USD 50 million to turn up for the rebel league, proposed by Subhash Chandra's Essel Group.
According to a Sydney Morning Herald report, Cricket Australia is now pondering the option of giving its centrally-contracted players longer deals to keep them away from the lure of such a setup.
The Guardian newspaper reported last weekend that the Essel Group had attempted to register the company name "Australian Cricket Control Pty Ltd" and had made similar efforts in other cricket-playing nations.
Owned by billionaire Subhash Chandra, the driving force behind the ill-fated rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL), Essel issued a statement on Monday saying they were "geared up to enter the sports business at a global level, focusing on cricket"
The ICC are said to be investigating the matter.
"The ICC is aware of certain recent registrations which are of concern to the sport of cricket, and the matter is under investigation," an International Cricket Council spokesman said on Friday.
(Inputs from Reuters)